Grocery Store Charging $5 Fee Just to Browse

A food specialty store in Australia is sick of folks “just looking” at their merchandise without buying anything. So, starting last month, Celiac Supplies instituted a policy in which shoppers pay a five dollar door fee, which will then be deducted from any purchase.

It’s to combat a phenomenon called showcasing, which is when customers check out the goods in a store and then buy them at another store or online.

According to a note left by management such behavior is unnecessary since the prices at Caliac Supplies are “almost the same as other stores.”

A photo of the store’s policy recently hit Reddit, and commenters were fairly unified in their condemnation of it, with many saying they would never shop at a store with such a door fee.

However, Celiac Supplies, which bills itself as Brisbane’s only gluten and wheat free store, appears to still be in business. (They have a pretty robust website, but oddly you can’t buy anything on it.)

Big box retailers like Target and Best Buy have also been stung by showcasing, but they responded by lowering their prices, rather than charging to enter.

Would you shop in a store with an entry free? Or would such an imposition just encourage you to turn to the internet for your gluten-free needs?

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